Fifteen Years Apart
by Lukeprism
Summary: AU. Lucas has lived life as an only child with a caring single mother as his sole guardian. That is, until now, when his mother tells him his father is coming to live with them once again, bringing his long lost twin with him. Eventual twincest. Indefinite hiatus.


_**A/N: BECAUSE TWINCEST IS ALL I CAN WRITE APPARENTLY.**_

WARNINGS: (eventual) twincest. Some language, I guess.

DISCLAIMER: Nuh-uh.

—**s—t—a—r—t—f—i—c—t—i —o—n—**

"Thanks for helpin' me out here, man."

The two adolescents each carried a sizable load of firewood, walking side by side along the dirt path through the deeper part of the forest. The trees shook in the slight breeze sifting through the air, chilling those who were out in the late fall evening. The taller of the two boys, the one with the unruly brown hair, donned a black sweater, though he still wore his usual yellow shorts, legs seemingly unaffected by the chilly weather. The other boy, the blonde, was covered by a grey jacket, yellow-and-red-striped scarf wrapped around his neck and jeans on his lower half. Both had little white puffs coming out of their mouths every few seconds as they exhaled. The blonde boy looked over at his companion and smiled, blue eyes tranquil and warm despite the temperature.

"Oh, it's no problem. You should know that by now, Fuel."

The brunette, Fuel, laughed. "I know, I know. But this is the third time this week! You must be getting sick of this, Lucas. You're just too nice to tell me to my face."

Lucas frowned. "I'm hurt, Fuel. I'm always up for helping a friend in need. Or a friend who's too lazy to do things himself."

Fuel shot the expression right back. "I never said you had to, blondie."

"Blondie?"

The two stared each other down for a moment before they broke into chuckles. "You know I'm teasing," Fuel reminded, averting his gaze to his front once more. "But seriously, thanks."

Lucas followed his lead, readjusting his hold on the wood cradled in his arms. "And seriously, no problem."

The silence that followed was a good one, that of two longtime friends enjoying the other's company. Fuel and Lucas had known each other for almost their whole lives, having met when they were just toddlers. They had a few things in common: having only one parent, being only children, keeping to that simplistic rural lifestyle for the most part. Even though Fuel was infinitely more of a physical, roughhousing kind of guy, he and the gentle-by-nature Lucas had always gotten along well.

The ground crunched below their sneakers as they trudged through gaps in the trees. A few minutes later, a rather large wooden cabin could be seen, surrounded by a small clearing. This was Fuel's home, where he and his father, the gruff yet loving in his own way Lighter, lived together. The man was a carpenter, the best in Tazmily, and Fuel planned to follow in his dad's footsteps. As they approached, said man could be seen sticking his big head out of one of the front windows, a thin smile on his face. "Looks like Fuel's outsourcing your labor yet again, Lucas."

Lucas laughed; Lighter had become close to him over the years, like the father he'd never had, and they could joke around like that, something which Lighter seldom did with anyone else, Fuel notwithstanding. "I guess so, huh? I'm such a pushover," he answered, his tone jocular.

Fuel rolled his eyes. "Don't act like you're not thankful, dad," he said matter-of-factly, leading the way into their humble abode to put the firewood they'd gathered away.

Lighter pulled his head in as they came inside, closing the window. "Well of course I am, son. I just think you're taking Lucas here for granted. One day he's not going to be here to help your lazy ass do things, y'hear?"

Fuel had to stifle a laugh. "Oh, c'mon dad, I don't get Lucas to help me with _everything_."

"Name three chores you've done by yourself this week."

"..."

Lighter smirked while watching his son, who had dropped his load of wood near their fireplace already, struggle to come up with cogent examples. "My point exactly." He turned to the blonde, who was dusting off his grey jacket as father and son debated. "And Lucas, feel free to tell my son to kiss your ass if he keeps bugging you about _his_ chores."

It was Lucas' turn to laugh. "I appreciate the permission, Lighter," he began, grinning up at the man as he came up beside Fuel, "but it really isn't a problem. I'm glad to help."

Lighter crossed his arms. "And I'm sure your mother could use that help herself." He paused, stroking his stubbly beard. "Speaking of which, tell Hinawa that I said hi."

Lucas' face lit up in realization. "Oh! That reminds me," he said, looking from father to son a few times. "Mom told me to ask you guys if you wanted to come over for dinner tomorrow. We're having roast beef."

Both males' eyes widened, mouths dangerously close to drooling in anticipation. "Hinawa's roast beef..." Fuel trailed off, licking his lips.

"Tell her we'll be there," Lighter answered quickly, wiping the look off his face. "But we'll bring something too. Like a salad. Those are hard to mess up."

The blonde smiled. "Okay, I'll pass on the message."

Fuel escorted his friend to the door, hand on his shoulder chummily. "Hey, want me to walk you back?" he asked, smug smile on his face. "You wouldn't want to get lost again, right?"

Lucas flushed, shoving the laughing brunette away. "Oh, shut _up_, Fuel!" The boy would never let him live down the day he had first come to their house all by himself, when he was nine years old. When he'd tried to get back, he got lost, and only the next morning when Fuel set out for Lucas' house did he find the blonde laying on the ground, devoid of all hope of getting out. One couldn't blame him. The forest was pretty scary at night to a kid.

He gave a last sheepish wave to Lighter, who was chuckling as well, before shuffling out the door, closing it a bit harder than he needed to. Sighing, he put his hands in his pockets and began to walk the opposite way, towards the cleared path of trees ahead.

The sun was sinking in the sky, drowning the world in dark shades of red and leaving the eastern part of the sky stained a dark blue color by the time he was out of the Sunshine Forest, indicating the coming night. The crossroads were barren, with even the train station empty and seemingly inactive. Lucas couldn't blame people for staying where it was warm. He would have too if it was up to him.

As he walked south, he passed the infamous Bell Tower Tazmily was known for, and Leder was, like he always was, standing by it, unfathomably tall form standing out in the sky, ready to ring that bell if and when he had to. Though he had never had to before, at least not in all the time Lucas had been alive. He donned his usual outfit, a black suit and pants with a small (for him, anyway) hat atop his wiry white hair. Eyes concealed by glasses, he gazed ever southward, focused intently on his duty. Lucas wondered briefly if he was cold.

"Hey, Leder," the blonde called as he passed, voice cutting through the brisk silence sharply. He didn't answer, because Leder never answered anyone, but Lucas felt it was polite to do so even if that was the case.

There were a few people bustling around in town when he arrived there, but they were of course in a hurry, eager to be out of the chilly weather. Walking through the streets in such silence was weird, but he wasn't complaining. He felt something icy land on his cheek, and upon further inspection, it was revealed to be a snowflake. Lucas blinked and looked up. Sure enough, the clouds above were dropping teeny balls of ice down on the land below. It wasn't anything bad, though, just a light kind of drizzle...except with snow instead of rain. Those that landed on the sidewalk stuck there almost uselessly as the boy weaved his way across the street, having to walk through the entire town to reach his home.

But the town was nowhere near large, and soon Lucas was on that all too familiar path to his house, shaking snowflakes out of his hair. The wooden mass was inviting, what with the plume of smoke rising from the chimney and light emanating from within. The little dog house beside the main abode usually housed his dog, Boney, but right now the dog was nowhere to be found. Not too surprising.

Once having walked up the whopping three steps leading to the front porch, Lucas opened the front door quickly, not one to stay outside for longer than necessary. The warmth was a welcome sensation to his red face, and he sighed contentedly upon entry. A brown dog who had been laying next to the fireplace a little ways away in the living room to the right, raised its head and wagged its tail, happy to see his other owner. Lucas nodded at Boney with a smile. His mother made a habit of letting Boney inside whenever it got so cold outside, much to the dog's relief.

Said mother stood in the kitchen, busy cooking up something in a big pot (that smelled suspiciously like stew), presumably for their consumption. Her red dress swished as she turned around for a moment to greet her son properly, a serene smile on her face. She pushed a lock of healthy brown hair away from her eyes, tucking it behind her right ear.

"Welcome home, honey," Hinawa said before turning back to the steaming pot. "How are Lighter and Fuel?"

Lucas decided to keep his jacket on until he warmed up a decent amount. "Oh, they're fine. Lighter says hi," he responded absently, slipping his shoes off and making his way to the large brown table between the kitchen and living room, the dining table. "Lighter said they'd come for dinner tomorrow. They're bringing salad."

Hinawa giggled. "Is that so? Lovely," she made a note of the information in her head as she stirred the hot liquid a couple more times. Whenever the two forest-bound men came over for dinner, they alway brought either a salad or some nut bread bought at Caroline's Bakery. It made both mother and son wonder just what they ate when they weren't eating Hinawa's food.

The table having already been set beforehand, all Hinawa had to do was ladle two bowls full of the steaming concoction, beef stew, and carry them over to the table, placing one in each of their spots so that they sat across from one another. The smell tickled Lucas' nose, delicious and practically begging the blonde to devour it. The boy was more than happy to oblige as his mother sat down in front of him, blowing on the entire bowl in an attempt to cool it.

The first five minutes of dinner were spent in silence. Hinawa barely touched her food, instead stirring it around some as she watched her son eat with an unreadable expression. Lucas was unsure of why exactly she did this. Perhaps she wasn't that hungry? Though that wouldn't explain the lack of conversation. Hinawa would talk about anything and everything with Lucas, if only to fill the silence at dinner; literally, anything. They had had _the_ talk at the dinner table (a memory which Lucas remembered all too well). But now she looked pensive, as if internally debating over something important or giving herself a pep talk, like she needed to say something significantly urgent. As tempted as he was to ask what the matter was, Lucas kept quiet, allowing his mother to gather her thoughts.

When he was three-fourths of the way done with his bowl of stew, she finally began to speak to him. "Lucas," she trailed off, as if having trouble deciding how to start the conversation. She looked at him directly. "What would you say if I told you you had a...twin brother?"

The spoon halted its journey skyward, halfway to his mouth. Lucas' half-open jaw hung for a moment, and he slowly closed it after fully absorbing what his mother had just said. If it had been any other time, he would have shrugged it off as another one of his mother's laughable 'what if' scenarios and joked around. But with how she had been acting prior, Lucas was seventy percent sure she was being completely serious, and as such carefully thought over his answer. How _would_ he react? "...well, I guess I'd probably ask you where he was."

Hinawa lowered her gaze. "He's in New Pork City right now," she answered him, clasping her hands together where they lay on the table. "He...he lives with your father."

Lucas still couldn't make out the expression on her face. He was silent for a minute. Twin brother? Living in the city with his father? Well, that was kind of...shocking. "...I thought you said you and my dad went separate ways right after I was born because of money issues or something," he finally replied, tone rather flat. He never would have thought his mother would lie to him about something like this. What was the real story, then? Did his father leave Hinawa? Or did she leave him? "You never said anything about a brother."

Her eyes fluttered closed. "I...I know. Back then I thought it would be for the best."

Lucas rested his forearms on the table, stew all but forgotten in front of him. "Why wouldn't...why didn't you..._tell_ me?" he asked, beginning to feel rather bitter. Now he was asking himself all sorts of silly questions. Would he look exactly like him? Would he talk the same, be able to finish each other's sentences? Would they have some kind of twin telepathy? Would he be an evil version of Lucas? Why couldn't they have just grown up together? His childhood probably would have been so much more interesting had he had a sibling to share it with. "Don't you think that's kind of important?"

Hinawa raised her head, looking at her son with a sad look in her eyes. "I know, dear. It is important. I probably shouldn't have kept it from you...but there is a reason we split up."

Lucas was silent, holding his tongue in favor of hearing what Hinawa had to say.

"Your father and I were young and carefree when we first met. I thought he was just the manliest, nicest, best-looking guy...and he was, for a time. But around the time I became pregnant with you two, he...he changed. He became a bit more detached, I suppose, more by-the-book and concerned with trivial things, like money. He was convinced that we should have moved to New Pork, to seek better opportunities and a new lifestyle. He thought it would be beneficial. But I didn't want that. I wanted you two to live out here, to grow up with each other in this pastoral, laid-back setting, with my father just an hour's journey away. I thought it would be better for you that way. He didn't agree.

"I could have argued with him until I was black and blue, but he wouldn't have changed his mind. I knew it was something he had to do, something all men need to do in their lives; experiment, and realize the errors in their ways of thinking. So I told him to go, that I would stay here with you two. He also knew that he couldn't convince me to come with him. But he didn't think it would be right, leaving me with all the child care. So he took your brother with him, to the city. And I got to raise you.

"We lost contact after that, for years. It was the year you turned four that he stopped sending his bi-monthly letters. I tried sending a few to him, but they were always returned. I guessed he had moved on and forgotten about me. I couldn't blame him if he had. So eleven years pass, and a few weeks ago, I get a surprise letter from your father, explaining what had happened. He had moved and lost our address, and he wasn't able to look it up at all, but he managed to dig up one of my replies in an old shoe box of his. Apparently he's found a job here in Tazmily, and doesn't have time to house hunt. He didn't ask, but I knew he would need a place to stay, so I offered to house him for a few weeks until he gets a chance to. Of course, he's bringing our son with him. I've been meaning to tell you, Lucas, but...I wasn't sure how you'd take it."

Lucas blinked. That was quite a story. It probably wouldn't really sink in for a while, until he met his father and brother. Brother...it was a weird thought to he who had been an only child for fifteen years. And he had always resented his father for allegedly leaving his mom all alone to raise a kid by herself. Maybe he wasn't actually a bad person. "...I'm not too sure _how_ I feel about it," he finally spoke after a period of silence between them. His mother had finally begun to eat, having gotten that news off her chest. "I guess it's exciting, though, getting to meet the other half of our family."

Hinawa smiled at him. "That's the spirit," she commended, dipping her spoon back into the bowl to ready another bite. "If your father is anything like he was, I'm sure you'll like him. And I can't wait to see how much your brother has grown!"

Lucas couldn't help but return the expression with how fond his mother was of the idea. "When exactly will they be here?"

"The day after next."

Lucas choked on the stew he had in his mouth, coughing violently a few times before he could successfully swallow again. He took a breath. "One day?" he breathed, grabbing the glass of water adjacent to his bowl. "Thanks for telling me _before_ they showed up at our door step."

Hinawa giggled guiltily. "I'm sorry, I said! I couldn't find a good time to bring it up, let alone know how you'd react."

Lucas just shook his head and sighed. Truth be told, he was slightly nervous of the upcoming encounter. What if his twin was an asshole? What if his dad was an asshole? What if they were _both_ assholes? He was totally psyching himself out, beginning to dread the thought.

Hinawa stared at her son intently. "I'm sure he looks just like you," she thought aloud, taking a sip of her own water. "You're identical twins, after all."

Lucas wrinkled his nose; he wasn't sure if he liked the idea of a carbon copy of himself walking around. "Who's older?" he asked curiously, hoping it was him.

Another light giggle. "You're the younger twin, honey," she answered.

Lucas frowned. "Of course," he pouted, looking back down to his bowl. Though, he had always wanted an older sibling. Somehow, being older by mere minutes didn't quite count. "So...what's his name?"

Hinawa wiped her mouth with a napkin daintily before she spoke.

"Oh, his name is Claus."

—**e—n—d—c—h—a—p—t—e—r—**

_**A/N: Because I would have stabbed myself in the hand with a fork had I ended the chapter with someone going to sleep. Exposition-y chapters for the wiiin~**_

I swear I was going to wait to start this fic. I've had the idea for months. Was trying to work on Protector and somehow this ended up happening. That's three CxL fics ongoing now. Bleh. I can't handle it. At least PL'll be over soon.

I have a feeling Flint's gonna be OOC. Apologies in advance.

Leave a review falling me whatcha liked, didn't like, things I can improve on, etc. etc. Please and thanks~

_**Adieu C:**_


End file.
